Hi Steve,
I doubt you will find any studies. It is my opinion that no one wants to
know how inadequate the filtering solution is so no one is interested in
looking into whether or not the filters are working. When the National
Research Council committee that was investigating filtering asked educators
why filters were installed, the universal answer provided was "to prevent
controversy and liability." So if the real purpose of filters is to prevent
controversy, why would anyone want to consider any information that the
filters are not working?
I have developed a test for filtering products that seeks to determine their
effectiveness in blocking access to the kinds of stuff we do not want kids
to be accessing. The few brave folks who have looked into the effectiveness
of their systems have been very disturbed about what they found. But not
many have even wanted to look. The test is still available upon request.
I will tell you what I think is happening with respect to the ability to
curcumvent filters.
The Tale of Circumventor
The US federal government provided funding to Bennett Hazelton, who founded
Peacefire, an anti-filtering group, to create a system that can allow people
go easily get around filters. Bennett created a system called Circumventor.
You can find out more about this at http://www.peacefire.org/.
Now some folks on this list are raising their eyebrows. Why would the same
federal government that is requiring the use of filters in schools and
libraries provide funding to develop technology to circumvent filters?
Well, the US government agency that provided the funding is the program that
runs Voice of America and they were concerned that censors on China were
blocking access to information they want the Chinese people to be able to
access. Censorship, in their eyes, is bad, not good. (And those of you
non-US folks on this list can just raise your eyebrows at the strange
happenings in this very bizarre country.)
Circumventor can easily be installed on any Windows computer with broadband
access. But, of course, none of your little charges have access to this kind
of technology or might be inclined to figure out some way around a filtering
system that is frustrating their efforts to use the Internet at school,
right? And none of them know about this, right? Of course, if you go to the
Ratemyteacher Wall of Shame (list of schools that have blocked
ratemyteacher) page at http://www.ratemyteachers.com/wallofshame.jsp you
will find a direct link to Peacefire with the statement "If your school is
blocking access, you might find the information on this page useful." But
your little charges are perfectly happy with the fact that your school's
filtering system will protect them and keep them safe, right?
I suspect, without any real evidence other than keeping my head up and eyes
open and talking occasionally with high school students, that many students
have set up Circumventor and have let their friends know the sites that they
can use to get around the school filter. I rather suspect that this is
occurring more in schools that have more stringent filtering which is known
to block access to perfectly acceptable sites.
Perhaps someday people will be willing to look at these issues and will
recognize that filtering is not the panacea it has been sold to be, but I do
not think that day has yet arrived.
Nancy
>
> Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 21:15:24 EST
> From: Steven Patnode <Sun85@AOL.COM>
> Subject: TAR: Research on internet filter effects on SLMC
>
> I am doing a little bit of research on internet filters in high school
> libraries, wondering how many students bypass the filtered media center
> and do their internet searches at unfiltered locations.
>
> It's a long shot, but I am wondering if anyone is familiar with
> any research studies done on this topic. I have found one good
> one by Pew Charitable Trust, but not much more other than articles,
> which are interesting but not technically helpful.
>
> One way or another, thanks!
>
> Steve Patnode
> Chazy Central Rural School
> SLMS Grades 7-12
> Chazy, NY 12921
> sun85@aol.com
--
Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D.
Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use
http://csriu.org
nwillard@csriu.org
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